E-Mail to the Editor
Niches Can Compete Alongside the Big Boys

Comment: I'll take slight issue with you on this point. You said, "Instead of going head to head with an established competitor, find a customer need that has not been well met on the Internet, and then fill that narrow niche with excellence."

I run a site called PhotoTunes.com, an e-card site. Yes, there are about 900 such sites, and yes, the genre is dominated by Excite's Blue Mountain. But most of these sites -- Blue Mountain included -- create cards that suffer from the "cutes" -- cute almost cartoony artwork, merry-go-round music, somewhat simplistic sentiments. I like sending e-cards but I got to wanting to send cards that were more adult and contemporary. So I hit upon the formula for PhotoTunes -- striking photography accompanied by studio-quality music -- based on my two passions. I take all the pictures and write and perform all the music. To the best of my knowledge, PhotoTunes is the only such site in the e-card world. Since going live in May, we've grown steadily each month, increasing the number of cards sent out and page views. Because I am bootstrapping this enterprise, I don't have the marketing budget I'd like to have but we're beginning to build our name and awareness.

So, in a way, I am going head to head with Blue Mountain because I offer a style of card it doesn't. But PhotoTunes also fills a niche for cards that appeal to a more adult user. Plus, I'm branching off into designing specific e-cards for businesses for a set fee and looking to link with bigger sites that might wish to offer cards as a value add.

I believe I found my niche in an admittedly crowded field. I call it my pizza theory -- with all the pizza franchises that dominate the market, new independent pizzerias open up all around us and stay in business. Why? cause lots of folks -- pizza experts like me -- don't like the offerings from the big franchises, preferring the wares made by hand with more attention to detail. It's a niche carved out of a well-established and somewhat predictable bigger market. -- Richard Duval, PhotoTunesmith http://www.phototunes.com

Editor: It sounds like you really aren't going head to head. You've discovered a unique niche that fits your passions. Now the challenge is to find multiple ways to generate revenue from your site. Generating revenue is a problem that Blue Mountain and Amazon e-Cards are both struggling with. More power to you! BTW, PhotoTunes has some spring and summer cards.